An Argument For Every Single Kanye West Album As His Best

The internet loves to rank things, and it seems Kanye West’s album discography has been ranked, re-ranked, and analyzed more times than any of us can count. But like clockwork, every time these rankings pop up, factions rise up to defend every single album that Yeezy ever touched as his best.

So, it occurred to us that those arguments are preferable to putting these records in any sort of arbitrary order. Instead, here is a fan of each record, defending their beloved choice as the one that should rank above all the rest; an argument for every single one of Kanye West’s albums as his best. Enjoy.

1) LR (Personal Favorite from him even with its flaws as a classic and this makes a ton of sense as Chance’s favorite from Ye)
2) MBDTF (When everything aligned even though Ye does not appreciate the album as much as fans and critics for a multitude of reasons)
3) TCD (A classic out the gate even if it’s by far his most dated project by also Ye at his most pure essence as a hip hop person)
4) Graduation (This would be higher if Drunk and Hot Girls was removed and Good Night was added to complete the album’s theme. The last of earthbound Ye before everything fell apart the moment he ascended to Hip-Hop’s Throne along with Wayne. Also, this album impacted the direction of rap given the “sales battle” with 50 among other factors)

Classic with Asterisk:

5) 808s (Makes a ton of sense why this may be his favorite album given the influence it has had on the genre since it birthed a style Drake would run with to new heights of success (if that makes sense). The first half of the album is stunning and then after “Paranoid” the drop-off in quality is too jarring).

Interesting nonetheless

6) TLOP (The original version with the reduced tracklist would have been a concise contender as a great piece of work but the final product still has it great moments with an equal mix of baffling instances. Too beautifully chaotic to compete with was has come before but nonetheless engaging because of such chaos. This album also works like a montage of his previous sounds without pushing the envelope as such prior albums.

7) Yeezus. The critical darling that fans seem to abhor. This album requires a separate post.

*WTT (Consider this a collab album so not really counting as Ye discography when compared to other albums but I would slot after 808s but seems the most archaic along with TCD in his catalog given how music and rap shifted since that album.

Pablo is not the best Kanye album because of the music it contains (remember that line about the model with a bleached a**hole? How about that one about how he stole Kim Kardashian from Ray J because “I’m rich?”). Instead, Pablo is a legendary Kanye album, and one of the most important records to be released in recent memory, because of the way he was able to redefine what it means for an album to be “released,” allowing the music to transcend the boundaries of the traditional formats.